Thomas Schirrmacher

Thomas Schirrmacher
File:Schirrmacher and Ecumenical Patriarch.jpg Thomas Schirrmacher in discussion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Churches Bartholomäus I. in Istanbul
Born	June 25th, 1960 Schwelm in Germany
Residence	Bonn in Germany
Nationality	German
Other names	Širmacher, Tomas (lit); Širmacheris, Tomas (lit); Širrmahers, Tomass (lit)
Citizenship	German
Employer	Martin Bucer Seminary
Known for	Christian moral philosophy
Spouse(s)	Christine Schirrmacher
Children	Two

File:Thomas Schirrmacher 2.jpg

Thomas Schirrmacher, 2011

Thomas Schirrmacher (born June 25, 1960) holds a chair in theology (ethics, missions, world religions), is a Christian moral philosopher and a specialist in the sociology of religion.

He is professor of the sociology of religion at the West University of Timişoara and university lecturer in systematic theology at the Freie Theologische Hochschule Gießen and Chairman of the theological commission of the World Evangelical Alliance.

Since 1996 he is the rector of the Martin Bucer European Theological Seminary and Research Institutes, a theological seminary seated in Bonn, Germany with campuses in several European countries. Since 2008 he is the director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom with offices in Bonn, Cape Town and Colombo.

Biography

Academic and pastoral career

Thomas Schirrmacher holds chairs in ethics, in world religions and in international development in Germany, Romania, USA and India. He holds the following degrees: M.Th. (Staatsunabhängige Theologische Hochschule Basel (FETA), Switzerland), Dr.Theol. (Ecumenical Theology & Missiology, TU Kampen, Netherlands), Ph.D. (Cultural Anthropology, PWU, Los Angeles), Th.D. (Ethics, WTS, Lakeland, Florida), Dr.Phil. (Sociology of Religion, State University, Bonn, Germany), honorary doctorates: D.D. (Cranmer Theological House, Shreveport), D.D. (Acts University, Bangalore, India).

Schirrmacher graduated from the FETA Basel in 1982 and earned his doctorates in theology (missiology and Ecumenics) from the Theological University of the Reformed Churches (Dutch: Theologische Universiteit Kampen voor de Gereformeerde Kerken) in Kampen (Netherlands) in 1985, a Phd in Cultural Anthropology from the Pacific Western University, LA in 1989 and in theology (Ethics) from the Whitefield Theological Seminary, Lakeland, FL in 1996. He earned an honorary doctorate from the Cranmer Theological House in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1997. 2007 he earned a PhD in Comparative Religions/Sociologiy of Religion at State University of Bonn in 2007. He got honorary doctorates form the Cranmer Theological House and the Acts University in Bangalore.

From 1982 to 1986 he was pastor in Bonn and Erftstadt, Germany. Later he was Theologian of the Evangelical Free Church in Bonn. From 1998 to 2000 pastor of the Free Reformed Church in the same town.

From 1994 to 1998 he was professor of missions at the Philadelphia Theological Seminary and since 1995 he is professor for systematic theology at the Whitefield Theological Seminary.

Since 1996 he has been rector of Martin Bucer Theological Seminary, which has 11 campuses in Europe. There he also is professor for systematic theology, missiology and religious studies.

He is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Gebende Hände gGmbH (German: Giving Hands charitable Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung), an internationally active relief organisation.

He has authored and edited 74 books, which have been translated into 14 languages. He is especially known for his works on religion in Nazi Germany.

He is on the board of the German section of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) since 2005. He is manager of the Religious Liberty Commission of the German and the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, and director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom of the World Evangelical Alliance. He was elected president in 2014.

Personal life

He is married to Christine Schirrmacher who holds a doctorate in Islamic Studies from the State University of Bonn, Germany, and is professor of Islamic Studies in Belgium. They have two children together.

Views

Theology

Schirrmacher rejects the Adiaphorists, who accept every state authority without exception, and derives from Romans 13 that Christians should only elect representatives who have proved that they themselves act according to God's law and apply it to others. Christians have to obey to the authority of the state only as long as it is a Rechtsstaat (a 'legal state', compare rule of law). He also wrote about Precarity (existence without predictability or security) in Germany.

Schirrmacher states that liturgy invariably expresses doctrine, even if a congregation states not to have a liturgy at all. He approves every form of arts, including music in church service, because God gave man the ability to create and adore arts. According to him every art is Christian art.

In the field of pastoral care, Schirrmacher advocates being very careful in telling someone God's will, because in many situations there are no divine orders which are applicable every time and on every place.

Schirrmacher views Marxism as a secular form of the Judeochristian religion.

Schirrmacher scrutinised the Old Testament for statements on Missiology and states that God not only speaks to pagans with judgement but also provides them with salvation through conversion and the promise of the Messiah. He predominantly is interested in the arguments of the Old Testament for the mission in the New Testament.

Historiography

See also: Adolf Hitler's religious views and Functionalism versus intentionalism

In Hitlers Kriegsreligion ('Hitler's War Religion'), Schirrmacher wrote about Adolf Hitler's religious self-perception and his loss of his Catholic faith. He combines the theories of intentionalism, the view that Hitler's program was expression of his inner conviction and of functionalism, that Hitler wrote his program only to maintain his power. For Schirrmacher both answers are correct: one answers to the How? and the other to the Why?. He holds Hans Naumann not for a racist but for a propagandist of the Nazis.

Works

Books (Selection)

• .
• .
• , ISBN 978-3-928936-62-0 (Swahili))
• .
• (in 14 languages)
• .
• .
• .

Articles (Selection)

• (referenced on p. 395 of Dawkins' The God Delusion).
• .
• .
• (referenced on p. 544 of Ronald Numbers' The Creationists).
• .

See also

• John Warwick Montgomery
• Friedrich Wilhelm Schirrmacher, historian and Schirrmacher's great-grandfather

Bibliography

• .

External links

• .
• Thomas Schirrmacher on the website of the Word Evangelical Alliance